What to do about new growth on a grape vine

Hi grape growing friends,

I received this email from John and Randi, so I decided to reply to their email on my blog so everybody can have a look at it.

Here's the email:

What to do about the new growth? I think about 20 bunches/plant is recommended, under the best circumstances, either red or white varieties. Do I pinch back the new growth at the mature stem, pinch back below the lowest bunch (I assume the plant needs leaves to produce nutrients for the grapes), let the new growth continue - removing only the bunch buds: how to balance roots with fruits?

OK here we go ...

Although John and Randi didn't mention the age of their grape vines in the email, I assume it is mature vines. New growth on a grape vine is easily managed by starting to remove water shoots.

Water shoots (as I call them) are shoots that develop from the old parts (arms and stems) of the grape vine - older than 2 years. These shoots normally do not produce grapes and only compact the vine and prevent proper sunlight penetration and air flow. Although water shoots can be used to renew a cordon (arm) when a cordon dies or become unfruitful, they are normally useless on a grape vine and should be removed.

Determining the crop size you want on your grape vines beforehand, is important and you should experiment with your own vines to see what the best load for optimum quality is.

Depending on how strong your grape vines are and off course the trellis system you use, 20 bunches per vine (like in the email from John and Randy) is okay, but with a well developed grape vine structure, good exposure to sunlight, correct bunch sizes and proper canopy management during summer, I succeeded in ripening up to 32 bunches per vine.

Some "grape growers/consultants" might tell you that this kind of crop sizes will result in lower quality grapes. Yes, that is true IF you do not look after your vine. I successfully prepare and pack grapes crops of this size year after year.

Now you might think: "What a windbag this guy is?" No, actually I'm no windbag, in fact I'm a rather quiet guy!

I'm telling you this because it is possible to grow grapes that produce that kind crop sizes. By removing all unnecessary shoots on the grape vine before flowering and even by reducing the number of flower-clusters at that stage, will unbelievably improve the quality of your grapes.

Like I said, decide on the crop size and count the number of bunches before flowering starts. Here is the formula I normally use.

Say for instance I decide on a crop size of 30 bunches per vine, I then ad 60% to that number

30 bunches + 60% = 48 bunches per vine (the rest will be removed after fruitset, when you will be able to choose the 30 best bunches from the total)

If I have say 70 bunches on the vine at that stage (which is possible!), I will remove 22 of those bunches. I start by removing inferior shoot, even if they have bunches on them. I remove all double shoot that developed from the same bud (remember that a bud on a grape vine is actually 3 buds combined) and then I remove individual clusters from shoot that produced more than one cluster per shoot.

KEEP ON COUNTING THE GRAPE CLUSTERS AS YOU PROCEED!

Once I've reached 48 clusters, the grape vine is now ready to go into flowering.

You see my friend ...

By removing unnecessary clusters before flowering, the vine is under much less stress - when the clusters start flowering, the grape vine is under an enormous amount of stress.

I never remove leaves at that stage. Rather leave the grape vine until after fruit set and then remove leaves. If you feel that some of the shoots is growing out of control, you can set them back by removing the growing point of those shoots.

I tried to explain this in simple terms, so I hope this will help you grow your grape vine the correct way.

Remember, for more in-depth grape growing secrets like this, you can join the Grape Coaching Program and I will take you by the hand and show you every step.

Good luck and if you have any questions, just add a comment below this post.

Take care

Danie

The Grape Guy

For the wine lover .....

For any wine enthusiast wine is more than just a liquor, it is a valuable beverage that triggers a certain chemistry and plays a fundamental role not just from the commercial point of view but intellectually, universally and socially speaking. The very history of wine is dating back to times when only the most well educated and wealthy people enjoyed it plentifully.

However, a wine enthusiast found among the poor and the illiterate was not rare either, as the pleasure of this sense stimulant is widely applicable to anyone, regardless of personal and social status. Presently, wine relates to so many areas that it is almost impossible to exhaust it as an object of study.

First and foremost, wine has a chemical composition that makes it the perfect accompaniment for food: fatty dishes would not be the same without the mild acidity and the taste contrast that wine creates. You don't have to be a passioned wine enthusiast to actually be aware of the way it complements the taste of food.

Furthermore, since meals are often a pretext for social interaction, wine is often the bond or the missing link in faulty communication. It relaxes the mind, eliminates the tension and stimulates creativity. Any wine enthusiast knows that as long as drinking remains rational, the pleasure is maximum.

The taste buds are the ones to sense the pleasant sensations triggered by wine and the combination of sweetness and acidity is the balance on which wine quality actually relies. It is not seldom that a wine enthusiast is happy to discover some fruity flavor in the liquor; usually such flavors contribute to the sweetness of the wine, depending on the general characteristics of the fruit that create them. Rich dimensions can be found in wine owing to the possibility to combine the taste of grapes with that of certain other fruits like pears, strawberries, elderberries and the like.

If for an amateur it is difficult to tell how white and red wine varieties are created, a wine enthusiast will most certainly know the difference. If red wine is made by the fermentation of the entire grapes, the white wine is the fermentation product of grape juice only: there is no fruit meat or skins left to the composition. Such knowledge may seem basic, but there are lots of other details that a wine enthusiast will share with others, since the topic is so wide and comprehensive that it could not be covered easily.

Take care
Danie
The Grape Guy
www.my-grape-vine.com

Grape Vine roots play an important role in grape and wine quality

Because we cannot see the roots of the grape vine without digging into the soil, many grape growers often make the mistake of not ensuring a well balanced, properly formed root system of the grape vine.

Tests have shown that a grape vine with well developed and well distributed root system contains lots of fine roots. These fine roots are responsible for the uptake of food and water, which will ensure a well developed canopy throughout the season. It is a known fact that for a good eating quality grape or a good quality grape for wine, active growth during the ripening of the grapes is essential.

A grape vine with an underdeveloped root system, especially fine roots, has a poor buffer capacity against unfavorable conditions, like drought, heat waves and even unwanted rain. The absence of these fine roots will result in less young leaves to form or develop throughout the season.

There must be a proper balance between old and newly formed leaves on a grape vine, because young leaves continue to feed the grapes and the root system of the vine. When an imbalance occurs, the grape vine goes into “stress” and will not be able to sustain the composition of the grapes during the later stages of ripening.

In short; the root quality and quantity of a grape vine is essential for good quality grapes, therefore proper soil preparation and the correct chemical substance of the soil must be determined and corrected before you plant the grape vines. To see how it's done, join the Grape Coaching Program. I have set up a free 10 day trial so you can access the first two sessions' info - yes, it is free to join :-)

Without any doubt, there is a direct correlation between the canopy development and quality of the root system and in the end the quality of the grapes and wine.

Ensuring a proper root system, will make canopy management easier and your grape vines will not easily go into “stress” when unwanted climate and external conditions occur.

Have a grape day!
Danie
"Author of the Complete Grape Growers Guide"

Training a grape vine on an arbor

In this video presentation I want to show you how to train new grape vines on an arbour.

Enjoy

(The size of the video is 31 Meg)

To visit the Grape Coaching Program, just click on the following link http://www.grapecoachingprogram.com/

Have a great day!
Danie The Grape Guy

Bird damage on grapes

Hi Grape Friends.

Hope you had a wonderful festive season and that 2008 will be a great grape growing year for you.

In this post, I would like to talk about birds damaging (eating) your grapes. If you are like me, a true nature person, fond of all wild animals (birds included), it is hard not to hate these feathered friends when you are a serious grape grower.

All over the world, grape growers have problems with birds ruining grape crops and the extent of damage to crops, caused by birds of varying types is often significant. Birds damage grape crops by either pecking or consuming whole grapes from bunches.

The former feeding method causes secondary spoilage as bacteria, moulds and insects attack the damaged berries, which may ruin an entire bunch , like in the picture below. Further more, in the table grape industry, which is my speciality by the way, grape bunch appearance is an important feature of the produce and even minimal feeding by birds cause cosmetic damage, making the fruit unsuitable for the export market.

Secondary infection because of bird damage

Now the Million Dollar Question is: "How can you prevent birds from damaging your grape cop?"

Studies showed that strategies to try and eliminate birds species, that damage grape crops have a poor record of success and the fact that environmental consciousness is on everybody's mind these days (as it should be), makes killing these birds not an option anymore.

There are a few methods, you as a grape grower, can use to try to reduce damage to grape crops.

1. Bird Netting

Grape growers use bird netting to drape the grape vines with a special net developed to keep out birds. Although bird netting give some sort of protection, it is not fool proof. Draping the netting over grape vines is a time consuming job and no mechanical manipulations (like mechanical harvesting) can be done before the netting is removed again.

2. Propane Gas Cannon

The Propane Gas Cannon is a bird scarer, controlled by an electronic timer and 12V battery and create periodic load explosions in an effort to scare birds from the vineyards. These Cannons are quite costly and should be placed at strategic places throughout the vineyard. Some grape growers where I live tried to use these cannons, but it seems like birds become acclimated in time to new sounds introduced into the vineyard and tend to ignore the cannon shots after a while.

3 Visual Repellents

I've seen grape growers use shiny streamers and other shiny and fluttering objects like small mirrors hanging from strings, to repel birds, but as with the propane gas cannon, birds acclimate to these objects quickly. Some grape growers stretch plastic strings over the vineyard and these strings will vibrate in the wind and make a low irritation sound that could (notice I said "could") repel unwanted birds.

4. Chemical Repellents

No proven chemical repellent (to my knowledge) has been successfully used in vineyards. Normally, the grapes are almost ready for harvest and applying chemicals to the grapes, could lead to artificial flavour to grapes and in the end to the wine - and it could be dangerous to humans! I do not recommend this!

In the end, there isn't much else we can do - sadly. As my dad always say: "Danie, always remember, you planted the rows on the sides of the vineyard for the birds and grape thieves to eat!" :-) LOL , thanks Dad, maybe I should design a vineyard without any side rows!

Hope you enjoyed the post, try some of these methods, even if they work only for a week or two - it could just be enough to save some of your grapes.

Have a great day

Danie

http://www.my-grape-vine.com/ & http://www.grapecoachingprogram.com/

Merry Christmas To You All

Hi grape growers.

Can you believe that it's Christmas again. Last year, the same time, we were a small community of grape growers, but since then grew exponentially!

Thanks for being part of the My-Grape-Vine experience.

A merry Christmas and lots of blessings to you.

Danie
The Grape Guy

Hail damage on grapes - these guys need our prayers.

Hi there grape friends.

A short, but really shocking post I want to share with you.

As most of you know, the early regions of South Africa (northern regions) started packing grapes a week or two ago, although we (where I live) are still about 5 weeks from packing/picking grapes.

Last weekend a hail storm destroyed many of those farmers' crops, some 100% (complete) crop loss. I though I should share these pictures with you. No matter how good a grape grower you are, if mother nature don't play along - well see the results.

Our prayers go out to these farmers, their families and their staff.

I nearly fainted when a good friend of mine send these to me.

Looks like Sugra1 (think so)

Flame Seedless

Flame is very susceptible to rain, so we cover the bunches with a special plastic bag, as you can see it didn't keep out the hale - look at the bags on the ground, shredded to pieces

Danie

http://www.my-grape-vine.com/